The Scammers Wonderland

 

 

This week in publishing,

 

Scammers… Just when you think they couldn’t stoop lower – you find that they can.

Victoria Strauss from Writer Beware is wondering if the scammers have just made a monumental mistake. They are using the names of Big 5 publishing houses, along with editors and agents in some big publishing scams. Will big publishing finally wake up and do. something? Reputations are on the line.

 

Rumbling along in the background is the class action being taken against Amazon for price fixing. This week there was a splash of publicity when an Indie bookstore came out to join the class action. Sounds like the movie You’ve Got Mail- said one commentator. Except I don’t think there will be a happy romantic ending here.

 

Publishing Perspectives reports on a call from UK translators to use racial equality in literary translation. If the book is written in its first language by a particular gender /race writer then it should be translated by a matching translator, shouldn’t it?

 

The New Publishing Standard reports on Big Bad Wolf’s latest mega sale, online at the same time as in person… (How many English remaindered copies can one mega company sell? Millions.)

 

Kris Rusch continues her interesting series on Hollywood and the pitfalls for writers- She examines the story of The Luminaries and how the screenplay was a nightmare of rewrites for Eleanor Catton.

 

Anne R Allen has an interesting post on The Fashion Of Writing. What is in and what is out and how fashions in writing change. ‘For instance, once you could sprinkle adverbs willy nilly in dialogue tags,’ she said happily, channeling her inner 1920’s diva.

 

Joanna Penn has a great interview with a story dialogue coach this week. How do you stop your characters from sounding all the same? Check out her interview with Jeff Elkins. 

 

In The Craft Section

2 Great posts on motivation for writers.-How to find the motivation to write- Now Novel

And 5 creative ways to get writing – C S Lakin- Bookmark Both.

The roles of secondary characters- Writers in the Storm-Bookmark

Choose the right story setting- Becca Puglisi

How to avoid weasel words when you write- Kristen Hogrefe Parnell- Bookmark

5 guidelines for writing helpful critiques- Maggie Smith

 

In The Marketing Section,

2 great posts from Penny Sansevieri

Book Marketing plan for audio and How to sell books by strategically engaging readers- Bookmark

Email Newsletters and why they are not going away- Catherine Baab Muguira

5 steps to finding a books ideal audience- Angela Ackerman

How to prep for your Book Launch- Heather Weidner

Do Bookbub deals work for permafree? - Carlyn Robertson- Bookmark

Selling Direct - Joanna Penn -Bookmark

 

To Finish,

A few weeks ago, I posted a link to the books that had entered the public domain. These are books whose copyright has expired. (Generally, after 70 years.)

I came across a list of children’s books today in this category. They are all classics and always seem to be reprinted every few years. (cash cow) However, if you want to mash up Alice In Wonderland with some hot modern genre- now could be the time. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic. The Famous Tea Party- John Tenniel

And Another One Is Gone

In publishing news this week.

Another one bites the dust and another one’s gone – you know the rest. Yes. Publishing houses buying up publishing houses. Harper Collins, smarting after missing out on buying Simon and Schuster, have bought Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They smacked cash down to buy the backlist- however, the frontlist looks good too. When you read the news report it is clear that backlist is important. Publishers asking for all rights must see the potential money to be made. This is where last week’s blog post from Kristine Rusch is important reading and then you can follow that up with part two published today from Kristine on why Hollywood is bypassing their own writers and rushing to woo book agents for books to turn into films.

 

This time last year there were rumblings of disquiet as the pandemic began to bite into those big events that mark the publishing industry. Would the London Book Fair go ahead and then all the others… This year the same uncertainty is happening. LBF isn’t making a definite answer, yet again. Others are delaying or deferring.

 

Meanwhile, some interesting stats on the 2020 publishing year have been issued. Mark Williams casts his weather eye over the news from the UK that they had a record publishing year despite bookstores closing. That seems odd. Where did they make their money?

 

The New Publishing Standard looks at the publishing industry right around the globe. The English-speaking world tends to look at just the U.S and UK markets but the bulk of the English speakers are outside of these two countries. That’s why it was interesting to see Mark Williams talking about China Literature wanting to grow their North American writers to 100,000. The numbers are mind-boggling. Read the article for the first inklings of how the publishing world will be changing in the future.

 

Anne R Allen and Ruth Harris have a fantastic blog. They have a wealth of great articles to trawl through and always have a weighty nugget to get you thinking. This week Ruth looked at the Look Inside- the make or break of a sale. It is timely to ponder how this important feature is overlooked.

 

Jacqui Murray has an interesting article on writing collaboratively. I did this years ago and it was heaps of fun. (but also hard work.) I know a few writers who are writing stories in a linked up world and they are having loads of fun together. Now take a story where everyone writes a different chapter. This is taking it to the next level.

 

Every now and then I dream about the perfect writing office. The amazing writing desk that I will write epics on. Open Culture recently had a great article on Writing Desks. These stunningly beautiful desks made for royalty are swoon-worthy for writers.

 

Jenny Hansen from Writers in the Storm has written a beautiful article on The Simple Writing Resolution That Changed My Writing Career. This is one of those articles that hit you in the feels and will resonate throughout your writing life. A must-read!

 

In The Craft Section,

Tips for dividing your story into chapters- 10 minute novelists- Bookmark

How writing improves your relationship with yourself-K M Weiland- Bookmark

Getting the motivation to write- Now Novel

Writing exercises- Reedsy

Handling perfectionism- Elizabeth S Craig- Bookmark 

 

In The Marketing Section,

13 book marketing ideas to consider before publishing- Penny Sansevieri

Narrating your own audiobook- Patty Jansen- Bookmark

5 little changes that make a big difference- Frances Caballo 

What to do when a writer is weary of social media-Edie Melson- Bookmark

Engage readers with your emails- Heather Gardner- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

It had to happen sometime. We needed to be able to let go. But it was hard to read that Beverly Cleary died this week aged 104. When I read the news, I had to stop and say thanks for the fantastic stories and the inspiration to write. 

When Beverly was a librarian she was challenged by a young boy who asked her where were the stories about kids like him- ordinary kids. And Henry Huggins began to take shape in her incredible mind. There have been many heartfelt reactions to Beverly’s characters but this one about the value and the challenge of Ramona Quimby is the best one I’ve seen this week. 

R.I.P. Beverly Cleary - forever 8 yrs young.

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full of marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.